Brexit: Hatred, lies and UK democracy

Brexit and funding for UK R&D.

THIS time last year, the UK’s electorate was gearing up to vote in a referendum to decide on the country’s future in the European Union. This week, the electorate is gearing up to vote again, this time to decide on the government it wants to lead Brexit negotiations. Among those who will be following those negotiations closely will be members of the UK’s research, development and innovation sec...

UK researchers digest the fallout from Brexit.

www.thelancet.com Vol 388 July 9, 2016 115 The president of the UK’s Academy of Medical Sciences professor Sir Robert Lechler was candid when it came to his view on the research implications of the UK referendum result: “I think this represents the biggest challenge to the UK’s research sector in living memory.” The referendum on June 23, in which voters took the momentous decision to leave the...

From Brexit to Trump: Social Media's Role in Democracy

Brexit? Analyzing Opinion on the UK-EU Referendum within Twitter

We present a demonstrator that visualizes the Twittersphere debate on whether the UK should remain in or leave the European Union. Data is collected using three strategies: hashtag search terms, extraction from the full stream and following specific users. The demonstrator can be used to show the different discussion topics identified by the different search strategies.

Operating through hatred.

Surgeons share their challenges and dilemmas in making ethical decisions in these twelve personal stories. The three commentary articles draw out the lessons the stories address. The commentators come from diverse backgrounds including sociology, bioethics, nursing, and surgery.